Evil Adversaries

Time for some more vintage Spider-Man villains to get an update! Powered up and bent on revenge, these menacing villains are powerful opponents. Yes, "these" menacing villains - it's swap figure time again! Let's see what Hobgoblin has been up to since last we saw him. After being revealed as the mastermind behind the Hobgoblin identity for years, Roderick Kingsley got into a running feud with Norman Osborn that saw him in and out of prison, and the two of them constantly trying to screw one another over. Eventually he decided to do what he did best, which was rent costumed identities to wannabe villains (in exchange for a cut of their ill-gotten profits). He then fueded with Phil Urich, and during Red Skull's psychic-powered inversion, he became a self-help guru. And rented costumed identities to wannabe heroes. Of course, that's assuming we're actually looking at Roderick Kingsley at all - while Norman Osborn's shtick has always been "I'm the one true Goblin no one else just me," Kingsley is much more tolerant of letting other people run around using the persona he created. And they all wore the same basic costume, comprising an orange tunic, gloves and boots over a blue scale-mail body suit. This could easily be Lefty Donovan, Ned Leeds, Jason Macendale, Harry Osborn... anyone! The armor is molded with crisp details, contrasting nicely with the slightly baggy shirt, the wrinkled gloves and boots, and his tattered cape. His thick belt is a separate piece that sits on his waist. The face on this figure is oustanding. Remember back when Hasbro took over the Marvel license and you could tell which figures their sculptors had worked on vs. which ones had been in development under ToyBiz? That was a long time ago. This face could stand with TB's best. It's just inhuman enough to make it clear he's wearing a mask, with low ridges on his eyebrows and a mouth full of pointy teeth that's almost demonic. And hey, speaking of "demonic," if you want this to be Macendale, the toy includes an alternate head that has the same crooked hood but trades out the face inside it for the unearthly one he got during the "Inferno" crossover. It kind of looks like the Deadite version of Ed from Evil Dead 2, with fangs that take up much more of the face than usual and deep, sunken cheeks. It's also got a long and pointed tongue lolling about, and looks generally creepy. Great work! Hobgoblin's accessories are exactly what you'd expect: a brown satchel around his chest, a translucent orange pumpkin bomb, and a small goblin glider. The glider has two loops the figure's feet can fit into, and with modern articulation, Hobgoblin looks great posing on it. He has swivel/hinge ankles, swivel boots, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, balljointed hips, a swivel waist, hinged torso, swivel/hinge wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, swivel/​hinge shoulders, a hinged neck and balljointed head. Both of his hands are in wide "gripping" poses, but neither of them is really shaped to hold the bomb perfectly. Hey, at least this one isn't too tall. Hobby includes the head of this series' Build-A-Figure, Venom. This is going to be a very non-traditional Venom! And yes, when we review the figure, we'll tell you why. Don't worry, OAFE's got your back. Both of these "Evil Adversaries" needed modern figures, because neither of them have been toyed since the later series of the ToyBiz Spider-Man line. And even if this isn't your preferred costume, the quality put into its creation is evident. -- 02/06/17

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